Dropkick, Guinness and corned beef make me happy

Happy Saint Patty's Day! I'm rocking out to Dropkick Murphys this morning and wishing I was in Boston.

But despite my location and lack of a live Irish punk rock band, I love St. Patrick's Day.

Unlike the big holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter - it's rather informal and fun. No worries about accumulating large amounts of debt on gifts, no expectations to craft an elaborate feast.

More often than not the holiday falls during the week, so when I was in college it was always a good excuse for a weekday trip to the bar to consume Guinness and collect shamrock stickers from various partygoers (if you're into that scene, check out Sonya's Walk of Shame blog for a list of places to party tonight).

For the past four years or so I've made a yearly tradition of slow-cooking corned beef and cabbage in a pot full of Guinness all day. After that first year, I stopped adding the cabbage in the morning - there are few things worse than limp, over-cooked cabbage. Ew.

But the beef and potatoes always turn out delicious. This year I'm putting it off one day as my eating partner has to work all night tonight.

I'm well aware that the "real" Irish don't actually eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day - my mom's cousin is married to a straight-from-the-isle Irishman and he said something like bangers and mash is more traditional St. Patty's Day fare.

But I'm American, so I go with the Americanized version of an Irish feast. Plus is nice and easy to prepare.

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